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08.06.2012

Economic Trends

A Look at Ohio’s Foreign-Born Population

Guanyi Yang

The number of immigrants living in the United States has been growing at a faster pace in recent decades. The diversity of countries from which these new residents have emigrated has been increasing as well. I take a closer look at the foreign-born residents of Ohio, to learn where they are from and how they perform in the labor market based on their earnings profile, educational attainment, and career choices.

The proportion of foreign-born residents in Ohio is lower than in the United States as a whole. From 2006 to 2010, for example, foreign-born residents accounted for about 3.8 percent of Ohio’s total population and 12.7 percent of the total U.S. population, according to the Census Bureau. In Ohio, Asians represent 37 percent of the total foreign-born population. Dividing Asia into East Asia (China, Japan, Korea, etc.), the Middle East (Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, etc.), Southeast Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, etc.), and Southwest Asia (India, Pakistan, etc.), I find that Southwest Asia contributes the most of the Asian countries, with 13.3 percent of total immigrants. The second-largest region supplying foreign-born residents to Ohio is Europe, at 27.9 percent, and the third is Latin America, at 21.3 percent.

The median wage of all employed workers in Ohio in 2009 was $30,000. The difference between those in the 75th percentile and those in the 25th percentile was $37,300, similar to the wage distribution for native-born employed workers. Meanwhile, the median income for all foreign-born employed workers was lower, $26,000, and the earnings gap between the 75th and 25th percentiles was smaller at $36,600.

Among all the regions from which Ohio’s foreign-born employed workers emigrated (hereafter “source regions”), Southwest Asia has the highest median earnings at $50,000, and Latin America has the lowest at $18,000. At the same time, workers from Southwest Asia have the largest earnings gap between the 75th percentile and the 25th percentile, $56,000, while those from Latin America have the smallest, $18,000. If we take a closer look at earnings differences by gender, we see that the smallest earnings gap between males and females exists for workers from Latin America, at $1,200, followed by East Asians, at $3,000. The largest gap exists for North Americans, at $30,300, followed by Southwest Asians, at $15,000.

The foreign-born residents of Ohio are, in general, more educated than the native-born. About 24.6 percent of Ohioans aged 25 and older have a college degree or higher. For foreign-born residents, the share is 39.5 percent, and for the native-born it is 23.8 percent. Southwest Asian immigrants have the highest share of their population with a college degree or higher, at 74.3 percent. On the other end of the spectrum, Latin American immigrants have the highest share of their population with a high school degree or lower, at 68.3 percent, followed by African immigrants at 38 percent. Of the foreign-born, Southwest Asian immigrants have the lowest share at 15.9 percent. Differences in the educational attainment rates of Southwest Asian and Latin American immigrants could partially explain the large median earnings disparities in these two groups.

Among Ohio residents who have a college or a more advanced degree, the share of the population attaining a bachelor’s degree and every advanced degree beyond (master’s, professional, or doctorate) is higher among the foreign-born population than the native-born. The percentage gap is much larger with the more advanced degrees (professional and doctorate). Asian immigrants have the highest share of the population at every degree level. Although Latin American immigrants have a lower share in most degree levels, the share of their population with professional degrees and doctorates is still higher than that of the native-born.

The educational attainment patterns of the foreign born in Ohio are not typical of the nation as a whole. In the United States, the percent of foreign born with a bachelor’s degree is slightly below that of native-born residents, though there is considerable variation across states. The Census Bureau reported that in 2009 Ohio had the second-largest gap between the bachelor’s degree attainment rate of foreign-born residents and the native-born population. The only state with a larger gap was West Virginia.

There are also some differences in the occupational distributions of native- and foreign-born workers. The top occupation for native-born workers is office and administrative support occupations, whereas production work is the top occupation for foreign-born workers. However, looking at the top five occupations for both groups of workers, there are both blue- and white-collar occupations, and there is significant overlap in the occupational categories. Finally, foreign-born and native-born residents have broadly similar industry employment shares among the top industries. In particular, education, health and social services, and manufacturing are the top two industries for both groups of workers.

Top Five Most Popular Occupations among Ohio’s Employed Workers (Age 16+), 2010
(percent)

	First	Second	Third	Fourth	Fifth
Ohio	Office 14.0	Sales 10.5	Management 9.0	Production 8.1	Construction 7.2
Native-born	Office 14.7	Sales 10.7	Management 9.0	Production 8.0	Construction 7.4
Foreign-born	Production 10.6	Management 9.1	Food 8.1	Sales 7.2	Office 6.6
Africa	Transportation 18.2	Office 12.4	Healthcare 9.3	Sales 7.4	Personal 6.7
East Asia	Food 17.4	Education 15.7	Management 14.0	Life 8.0	Computer 7.1
Middle East	Sales 22.6	Management 10.3	Architecture 8.5	Transportation 7.7	Education 7.1
Southeast Asia	Production 16.7	Personal 16.6	Office 6.4	Construction 6.2	Financial 5.3
Southwest Asia	Computer 21.1	Management 12.1	Education 10.2	Sales 7.7	Production 5.9
Europe	Management 13.6	Production 12.1	Office 8.1	Sales 7.6	Construction 6.3
Latin America	Production 17.4	Food 14.1	Buildings 12.6	Transportation 9.7	Construction 9.7
North America	Management 16.6	Sales 14.4	Education 13.1	Computer 14.8	Office 4.5

Note: For details on the American Community Survey (ASC) occupation coding, see: http://usa.ipums.org/usa/volii/c2ssoccup.shtml.
Due to the limited sample size, foreign-born population from Oceania is not included in the analysis of this article.
Source: IPUMS, ACS 2010 Sample.

Top Five Most Popular Industries among Ohio’s Employed Workers (Age 16+), 2010
(percent)

	First	Second	Third	Fourth	Fifth
Ohio	Educational/Health 24.8	Manufacturing 15.0	Retail 12.0	Professional 8.9	Arts/Recreation 8.6
Native-born	Educational/Health 24.8	Manufacturing 14.9	Retail 12.1	Professional 8.7	Arts/Recreation 8.5
Foreign-born	Educational/Health 24.3	Manufacturing 16.2	Professional 13.0	Arts/Recreation 12.1	Retail 8.8
Africa	Educational/health 33.7	Retail 12.3	Transportation 10.1	Manufacturing 8.7	Professional 8.7
East Asia	Educational/Health 31.5	Arts/Recreation 27.3	Manufacturing 13.7	Professional 11.0	Retail 5.3
Middle East	Educational/Health 27.1	Retail 20.6	Professional 17.8	Manufacturing 8.8	Arts/Recreation 8.4
Southeast Asia	Educational/Health 23.1	Manufacturing 22.2	Other 17.2	Professional 8.0	Finance 6.8
Southwest Asia	Educational/Health 33.9	Professional 19.7	Finance 11.5	Manufacturing 10.8	Retail 10.8
Europe	Manufacturing 21.3	Educational/Health 21.2	Professional 11.5	Retail 9.2	Arts/Recreation 8.6
Latin America	Manufacturing 19.3	Arts/Recreation 18.7	Professional 14.0	Educational/Health 11.8	Construction 8.2
North America	Educational/Health 32.5	Professional 17.4	Manufacturing 12.3	Finance 8.4	Retail 6.4

Note: For details on the American Community Survey (ASC) industry coding, see: http://usa.ipums.org/usa/volii/08indus.shtml.
Due to the limited sample size, foreign-born population from Oceania is not included in the analysis of this article.
Source: IPUMS, ACS 2010 Sample.

In summary, Ohio absorbs a variety of immigrants from all regions of the world, primarily from Asia. Its foreign-born residents generally have higher educational attainment than the native-born, and they congregate in occupations and industries where high skill sets are more appreciated, which likely results in higher median earnings.

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